I'm only a few hours into it, but I suspect that Mass Effect: Andromeda is highly underrated. While I understand some bitterness towards EA about Battlefront II, they're certainly capable of publishing good games. DA:I was one of the best post-Skyrim RPGs, not quite as good as The Witcher 3, but a considerable improvement on DAII. I think BioWare really had a future as a developer of the kinds of games that it's good at making.

ME: Andromeda Talk:

I agree - ME:A is severely underrated.

ME:A suffers from a combo of things. It was over-hyped to the moon, just like Dragon Age 2. So, most people that love ME1-3 will probably say "ME:A sucks," when it's really more like that the other games ME1-3 are amazing and this ME:A is just actually solid and good. DA2 had this problem, after coming off DAO; DAO is one of the best & last old-school style CRPG's from the AAA space.

ME:A's first 10-20 hours feels like a tutorial to set you up for how to play the game, gameplay-wise. The combat is fantastic and easily the best in the series, action-wise - but it also lacks the strategy of the earlier ME games b/c you don't have the BioWare stategic-pause and you can't really strategically have your other party members do their special skills at your command; so ME:A feels more action-y. You can't sit forever in cover - as AI will get you out of it by destroying cover, throwing grenades, doing special skills, or whatever.

The story doesn't really kick in and go much of anywhere until you leave Eos, TBH. That's a big problem, as many might not get even past Eos b/c of this. Basically, this is the DA: Inquisition problem w/ you could stay too long in the Hinterlands all over again. Honestly, DA:I doesn't get going until you get out of the Hinterlands.

Also, ME:A lacks the great storytelling, character development, and whatnot that we normally find in BioWare-branded games. This is one of the game's biggest problems, IMHO - as BioWare games usually never mess this up. ME:A isn't horrible, mind you - but it feels like the script was cut majorly and/or they just hit the main important story-beats without much depth...and just moved the hell on to the next thing.

There are also tons of UbiSoft type of questing and it's a huge open-world for all of these maps just like those games - in which you do a lot off one-off quests, collect-a-thons, and not too important side-stuff. It can feel like, if you actually do tons of it, a lot of grind-work and stuff to do - and this for many was a problem w/ DA: Inquisition. It can also feel repetitive, too - if you do tons of this side-stuff.

I've enjoyed my 50 hours w/ ME:A - but I needed to get away from it. It doesn't feel like I'm anywhere close to the end of the story arc; feels like I'm somewhere in the middle. And the game's just got so much quantity-wise to it, especially w/ side-quest city and collect-a-thon city - that I just needed to get away from it. I needed a break from it.

About BioWare as a company:

I think most will say after DA2, it was headed towards a downward slump. Many people were upset w/ DA2, as they felt it was nowhere on DAO's level and really isn't even the same type of game as DAO (DA2 is more action-y and less of a RPG than DAI for many reasons - less decisions; overhead tac-cam removed; smaller scale/not-as-epic story; and the 3 Acts format.

Some people weren't even that fond of DAI, as that also tries to be more Skyrim-like than DAO-esque; DAI tries to combine the best elements of DAO; DA2; and some new stuff in DAI (UbiSoft open-world with one-off side quests and collect-a-thon city) - but, some people weren't fond of that.

A lot of people have certain expectations from a Franchise when it's already great - so when changing a lot of things, which might not be executed to many's liking, it can cause lots of disappointment and many don't want to deal w/ the so-called "growing pains".

BioWare isn't even really the same company these days. With Jennifer Hepler, Trent Oster (another BioWare co-founder that left, who is now leading Beamdog), the two co-founding doctors, David Gaider, Mike Laidlaw, and other key figures that are gone from BioWare - I don't think this new BioWare (after DA2) is really the same BioWare as pre-DA2 BioWare. Other than NWN1 base-game's Single Player Campaign, I think BioWare was pretty much untouchable before DA2.

These days - yeah, BioWare doesn't seem like it's untouchable anymore. It seems like it's putting games of different styles and different levels of quality, which can alienate a lot of its very hardcore and rabid fan-base.

I'm only a few hours into it, but I suspect that Mass Effect: Andromeda is highly underrated.

Not to me, that game was incredibly mediocre. There were some interesting and enjoyable aspects to the game, but they were FAR outweighed by the design flaws, repetitive and boring quests/side-quests, subpar (and sometimes downright silly) story and storytelling, and mostly bland/uninteresting characters.

So... spent the night fighting monsters with Captain Pawesome... yea... Monster Hunter is great. 4K looks nice. Couple of weird animations but for the most part an enjoyable experience. Can't wait to replay it when it hits Steam.

Not to me, that game was incredibly mediocre. There were some interesting and enjoyable aspects to the game, but they were FAR outweighed by the design flaws, repetitive and boring quests/side-quests, subpar (and sometimes downright silly) story and storytelling, and mostly bland/uninteresting characters.

He's not even at that stupid green planet where you run back and forth temple to temple before climbing each of the damned buildings platformer style. He'll come back and be just as bored as the rest of us. (or finding the end body for a quest that has you running all over the first planet ... it's like.. dude I know you died.... but the audio doesn't)

ME:A sucks b/c it is mediocre even as a stand alone game. A triple A team with AAA budget made this farce should all be fired from top to bottom. Under-rated? It was rightfully rated on release date, for the piss-poor, sorry state it was in. The EA/Bioware white knight and fan-boy apologist won't stand for it and thinking that placating EA will somehow make EA better and justify their fanboism/blind purchase!?

We want more shitty yet overpriced games coming out of EA in the upcoming years? By all mean, keep on defending their shoddy game R&D practice, their unadulterated greed and their lack of professional ethics.

So... spent the night fighting monsters with Captain Pawesome... yea... Monster Hunter is great. 4K looks nice. Couple of weird animations but for the most part an enjoyable experience. Can't wait to replay it when it hits Steam.

I've never played a monster hunter game... Does it have the random loot of Diablo? Loot in certain locations like Demon's Souls?

I've never played a monster hunter game... Does it have the random loot of Diablo? Loot in certain locations like Demon's Souls?

I know it has some sort of grind to it, right?

It's grindy. There's some RNG involved with materials, but much less so than games where equipment drops. At the very least, grinding a monster will earn you parts that you can use to make something (cosmetic armor, palico gear, extra weapons), instead of junk. I guess I can't say much about this new one, as I've only played a few hours, but I've been playing since MH PS2.

from what i've watched from streams, only mats drop from monsters. then you use the mats to craft gear and weapons. and yes, it is very grindy.

but why you thinking about MH, only 3 days left of GE. got my classified alpha bridge son, let's go!!!

I've opened like 74 superior caches so far... I JUST finished Alpha. Tactician, Firecrest have been done for a little bit. Tactician being the most important... but even it can be outdone by Barrets, Inventive, and 4 PC tactician... Though Relentless backpack seems to be the most popular. You use a turret and sticky bomb and no health skills. (5% of the damage your turret does comes back to you as health.)

Alpha is so gimmicky... and requires the last shot for anything on it to work and no signature from allies really hampers it too. Frankly, till they redesign it it will likely sit on an ult and never be used. There is a bit of salt in my opinion. Most of the vets wanted the return of the old alphabridge. (In it you got use of all six talents but the FAMAS, now bullfrog, broke it (badly) and they reworked it to bottom talent only (and no exotic talents). They need to keep the no exotic talents. An MDR with uncomplicated (bullfrog) and two other talents would be so broke it would be disgusting.

Firecrest is very meh also... Its pretty much a supporting role only and the fire turret isn't as responsive as the Gatling gun turret and allot of enemies will run past it and focus on you.

Hunter's Faith... The set has always been crap and six pc doesn't seem to help too much from what I can tell (I don't have a full set though) but I've heard of people doing mass damage with it... but till the GE event ends and the ambush damage modifier is removed we really won't know how powerful it is.

Anyhow, get the sets finished now... They have fixed crap sets and items before and they'll likely do it again.

RNGebus has not been kind to me. I'm averaging one Damascus per day.

I'm the proud owner of about 5 new MDRs this week... and I've even dropped a few.

I've opened like 74 superior caches so far... I JUST finished Alpha. Tactician, Firecrest have been done for a little bit. Tactician being the most important... but even it can be outdone by Barrets, Inventive, and 4 PC tactician... Though Relentless backpack seems to be the most popular. You use a turret and sticky bomb and no health skills. (5% of the damage your turret does comes back to you as health.)

Alpha is so gimmicky... and requires the last shot for anything on it to work and no signature from allies really hampers it too. Frankly, till they redesign it it will likely sit on an ult and never be used. There is a bit of salt in my opinion. Most of the vets wanted the return of the old alphabridge. (In it you got use of all six talents but the FAMAS, now bullfrog, broke it (badly) and they reworked it to bottom talent only (and no exotic talents). They need to keep the no exotic talents. An MDR with uncomplicated (bullfrog) and two other talents would be so broke it would be disgusting.

Firecrest is very meh also... Its pretty much a supporting role only and the fire turret isn't as responsive as the Gatling gun turret and allot of enemies will run past it and focus on you.

Hunter's Faith... The set has always been crap and six pc doesn't seem to help too much from what I can tell (I don't have a full set though) but I've heard of people doing mass damage with it... but till the GE event ends and the ambush damage modifier is removed we really won't know how powerful it is.

Anyhow, get the sets finished now... They have fixed crap sets and items before and they'll likely do it again.

I'm the proud owner of about 5 new MDRs this week... and I've even dropped a few.

Reading stuff like this just confirms that I'm playing a totally different game when I play The Division. I don't know what any of that means.

ME:A sucks b/c it is mediocre even as a stand alone game. A triple A team with AAA budget made this farce should all be fired from top to bottom. Under-rated? It was rightfully rated on release date, for the piss-poor, sorry state it was in. The EA/Bioware white knight and fan-boy apologist won't stand for it and thinking that placating EA will somehow make EA better and justify their fanboism/blind purchase!?

We want more shitty yet overpriced games coming out of EA in the upcoming years? By all mean, keep on defending their shoddy game R&D practice, their unadulterated greed and their lack of professional ethics.

Let's keep in mind here, I bought and played the game after its final patch. Most of the horrible animation issues are gone now (yeah, there's still some quirks, but nothing horrible) and it's honestly nothing worse than some of the shoddy, janky, and "meh" animations we've seen in Bethesda's RPG's and also FO: New Vegas.

The game got grilled, but honestly - is it really worse than other open-world FPS's like Homefront: The Revolution, Mafia 3, or any other games with the UbiSoft open-world repetition syndrome? MEA feels more like those games than say a true-blue ME1-3 type of title - in which all of those (HF:TR, M3, MEA) also are underrated and under-appreciated, IMHO.

Don't get me wrong here, either - none of those games are legendary either. Problem is: BioWare's legacy is that most of their games are legendary (DAO, BG1&2, NWN Hordes, ME1-3, JE), not just "solid" (NWN base-game, DA2, MEA).

I peasant fakyed, easily the most disgusting action that I've committed in recent memory, and am really, REALLY not into it. Don't know what I was expecting honestly. In theory, it seems appealing, but practice is just tedium. Also, the frame rate of the Xboner version leaves alot to be desired. Guess I need to figure out a way to sell it to get the most back or I'll have to beat myself for the transgression.

Back in the PS2 days I bought and liked a game called Ghost Hunter. Not the best game in the world, but you know, love survival horror/scar stuff. So then I heard about a game called Monster Hunter and thought, wow, neat, must be like a sequel or prequel dealing with like mythical beasts instead of ghosts. Bought and tried to play it and to my dismay it was a damn arpg or something.

I played MHW last night on XBO X and loved it. Basically, to up your odds of getting loot you aim for specific hit boxes on the monster (ie. head parts come from... (gasp) head region). You can also knock said parts off mid battle (then you have to sheath your weapon, run to it, and pick it up... mid battle) It's got good patterns like Dark Souls but not nearly as punishing on death. In fact, you get 3 strikes on quests/missions. Each death is a little less money/stuff at the end. In the open world/exploration mode, you can die as much as you want. Since in THIS game you can't repeat quests, I'm using the exploration to dink around and figure out my combos. Tons of weapons each playing different. I'll likely end up double dipping when it comes out on Steam.

But I'm also a Monster Hunter fiend and have a bunch of the monster toys from Japan and whatnot. So I'm a bit biased.

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